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Photos of the Game (Credit Denis Concordel, http://widgic.zenfolio.com/110909-01)
PALO ALTO, Calif. - No. 17 Santa Clara (3-0-3) played to a tie against No. 11 UC Irvine (5-0-1) in the Stanford Nike Invitational. The 1-1 tie was the Broncos' third tie in as many games.
Santa Clara drew first blood when freshman Cate Parchinski headed a corner kick from Meleana Shim past Irvine goalie Jennifer Randazzo. The goal was Parchinski's first collegiate goal and put up Santa Clara up 1-0 in the 39th minute.
UC Irvine's Natalie Ledezma fired a shot in the 52nd minute that Santa Clara goalkeeper Bianca Henninger stopped to record her first save of the game. Henninger registered six saves on the evening.
Seconds later the Jordan Bruce of Irvine played a long ball on the ground and Ledezma took a one-touch shot that beat the goalie. The goal tied the game at 1-1.
Both teams had several scoring opportunities the rest of the game but neither team could pull ahead and the game ended in a draw.
"Two of our last three games we've played top-20 teams and lost our first half lead early in the second half," said head coach Jerry Smith. "We left the game feeling disappointed because we felt like we were the better team. Our young team needs to learn how to start the second half better so we don't give up these leads. You have to credit a good team like Irvine but we had plenty of chances to score."
The Broncos next game will be the home-opener against defending national champion Notre Dame on Sun., Sept. 11 at 11:30 a.m. at Buck Shaw Stadium as part of a doubleheader with the Bronco men's soccer team.